Hans Krebs

Hans Krebs (4 March 1898-2 May 1945) was a General der Infanterie of the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany. Hans Krebs held the title of Chief of the Army General Staff (OKH) from 1 April to 2 May 1945 under Adolf Hitler. Krebs served in World War II and shot himself after the battle of Berlin in 1945.

Biography
Hans Krebs was born on 4 March 1898 in Helmstedt, Lower Saxony, in the German Empire (present-day Germany). Krebs volunteered in the Imperial German Army in 1914 at the start of World War I and rose to the rank of First Lieutenant in 1925. In 1936, Krebs was appointed as the assistant to Nazi Germany's military attache in Moscow in the Soviet Union, and Krebs learned to speak Russian fluently. Krebs later became the chief-of-staff to many army groups and was promoted to Major General in 1942 while serving in the war with the Soviets in World War II. Krebs was made Deputy Chief of the Army General Staff (OKH) in February 1945 after fighting as chief-of-staff of Army Group B on the Western Front in 1944, and he rose to claim the full title of Chief of the Army General Staff on 1 April 1945 at Adolf Hitler's request.

Entrapped in Hitler's Fuhrerbunker in Berlin as the Soviet Red Army invaded Germany in April, Krebs acted as the envoy to the Soviet general Vasily Chuikov during the battle of Berlin. Krebs spoke with Chuikov in Russian and attempted to secure an agreement for the surrender of Berlin, but he was not allowed to accept Chuikov's offer of unconditional surrender. Krebs and Wilhelm Burgdorf both remained in the bunker after the deaths of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, and the Goebbels family and both Krebs and Burgdorf shot themselves in their heads to follow the example of Hitler.